#and i still dislike broccoli and brussel sprouts

[transgender-catboy]

I'm so happy tastes change when you get older

[the-salt-flat]

[discussing with therapist about coming to grips with things being off in my childhood]

Later on in conversation:

Me: “Oh yeah, I would eat all sorts of vegetables as a kid, even brussel sprouts, but just not broccoli. It made me gag. But my mom wanted me to eat it. So, when I was a toddler, she would strap me into my highchair, move it out of the kitchen into another room, and leave me in there by myself for hours until I ate it or she gave up.”

Therapist: “And do you think that’s normal for a parent to do?”

Me:

Me:

Me: “Well, not when you ask it like that—”

[qotu33]

Simple green smoothie. As someone who hates vegetables but still needs to eat them, my acupuncturist recommended I try making green smoothies and I’ve gotta say, it’s been a game changer!

It’s also super great because I don’t have to think about what I’m going to have for dinner every night. I have a bad relationship with food, thanks to my digestive issues, my strong dislike of many tastes and textures, and being neurodivergent. I hate having to make food choices and spending time cooking and cleaning when I’d rather do other things, like write fanfiction late into the night.

~*~

Below is my basic smoothie recipe. The ingredients that are spelled out to the letter never change for me. The others change only when I’ve used up a bag of something. It will also depend on what’s available at the store. For the bananas, cut them in half, peel them, and store them in a freezer bag or container in your freezer, as soon as you buy them. This is a versatile recipe so change it to suit your needs and tastes!

This recipe does not require ice because most of the ingredients are already frozen and the mini cucumber helps provide liquid along with the almond milk and fresh fruit.

The fruit masks the taste of the vegetables! It’s magic!

~*~

Here’s my basic recipe:

1/2 frozen banana

1/2 cup almond milk

1 mini cucumber

Handful of other fruit (fresh, not frozen) for flavoring (currently using pre-cut pineapple pieces, but berries work really well too.)

(Let your mixer mix these ingredients until liquid.)

Add a handful or two of two different frozen vegetables (currently okra and broccoli, but zucchini, peas, and Brussels sprouts work well too. The key is that the vegetables should be green.)

(Let your mixer mix these until liquid.)

Add a handful or two of frozen spinach or kale (or some other leafy green vegetable.)

As a bonus, I’ve been adding a pinch of turmeric and a pinch of ginger at the direction of my acupuncturist.

(Let your mixer mix until everything is liquid and smooth.)

~*~

Too make this a full meal I will eat two fried eggs or a few fish sticks on the side.

I also like to pair this with crackers. Sometimes my kitchen wizardry doesn’t come out as tasty as I’d like, depending on the ingredients mixed together. Most of the time it tastes pretty good, but I’m a severely “picky eater” that causes problems at times. If it happens, crackers help give a neutral taste in between swallows. And yes, there are times I’ve abandoned a smoothie that just wasn’t working for me. It’s okay. Sometimes kale is too strong a flavor and it overpowers the fruit, or maybe the fruit’s just not quite in season yet. It happens.

Remember to drink your smoothie slowly and use a chewing motion. Supposedly, chewing helps you digest your food better, even if it doesn’t actually require chewing. From personal experience, drinking anything, even water, too fast can lead to acid reflux, which ain’t no fun at all.

This really works for me! As a kid I lived almost exclusively on dairy and wheat because that’s what tastes good to me. Even as an adult, I used to eat macaroni and cheese everyday for lunch. I still hate vegetables, but the fruit and other ingredients helps to hide the taste in a smoothie so I can be a little bit more healthy in what I eat these days.

[onthepathwaytohealth-blog]

Cruciferous vegetables

I've started incorporating more cruciferous vegetables into my diet after reading the book Living Foods for Optimum Health by Brian R. Clement. I bought the book years ago after hearing him talk in Pittsburgh, skimmed through it and then put it back on my shelf. I probably was following the advice in the book back then but fell out of sync with healthy eating, so revisiting it has helped a lot. In the book he talks about "living foods", that is uncooked, unprocessed plant based foods - vegetables, herbs, fruit, seeds, legumes, whole grains and nuts. Now, for many this way of life just doesn't seem feasible or seems unattainable. But it's not all or nothing in my personal opinion. My son who is one can not eat raw vegetables due to choking hazards as well as a dislike for the taste but if I steam the vegetables instead of boiling and I steam it for less time, there still will be a lot of the nutritional elements maintained in that said food. Anyways getting back on topic, cruciferous vegetables definitely would be classified as a "living food". They are full of phytochemicals which prevent cancer growth. One example of a phytochemical is called sulforaphane which has been found to reduce tumors and delay their development. Broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, turnips and kale all have this substance. Broccoli also contains phenethyl isothiocyanate which prevents carcinogens from binding to DNA and indole-3-carbinol which causes estrogen to break down into harmless metabolite rather than the form linked to breast cancer. Cabbage also has this property along with oltipraz which increases enzymes that protect against a wide range of cancer, and a substance called brassinin which protects against mammary and skin tumors. So folks, it's a good idea to incorporate these foods into your daily diet.

[creativityobsessed]

Maple & cider?

maple - is there a hobby / skill that you’ve always wanted to try but never did?

I have always wanted to learn Irish step-dancing. My cousins did when we were kids, but getting that kind of lessons near me required driving a ways for us, and I was already knee deep in ice skating and horse riding.

cider - a food that you disliked as a child but now enjoy?

Well, for one thing my spice tolerance has gone up, used to be I couldn't even take the tiniest amount of chili. Also my bitter super-taster difficulties have gone down some, so I can eat things like brussel sprouts and asparagus better than I used to (though I still can't even stand the smell of broccoli). Oh, also when I was really young I thought I didn't like soup. Turns out, Mom only ever made one kind of soup, and invariably over peppered it. Other kinds of soup I like just fine.

Send Autumnal Asks

[great-ben-810]

「It’s not even winter yet」

Part 1 / Part 2

Something was horribly wrong.

The moment Akko’s foot stepped on the ground, Aunt Daryl hurriedly welcomed her to the Cavendish Manor. Even now, the twins Merril and Marril were tightly latched onto both sides of Akko, pulling her into the dining room. Akko though that they will leave her alone at the table, but what a mistake that was.

At the head of the table, Diana sat starstruck.

And Akko was sandwiched in between the twins while Aunt Daryl sat opposite from her.

With panicked eyes, Akko was sending a constant SOS signal to Diana who was equally alarmed herself and unable to send help.

 How am I supposed to enjoy the feast like this! I won’t be able to stomach any food!

However, Akko’s naïve worries were blown away when dinner was served.

Mmmm, this corn soup is delicious! Just the right texture and it goes well with the bread!

Food was her escape from reality, but she was brought back by a giggle that came from her right.

“Miss Akko, would you like sautéed brussel sprouts and bacon?”

“Oh, yes, thank you very much, um, Miss Marril?”

“I’m Merril. My hair is combed towards the left. Marril’s is towards the right.”

“Miss Akko, how about this mushroom and broccoli casserole with melted cheese?”

“Y-yes, please.”

“Please let me know if you would like the mashed potato and gratin anytime.”

Not liking her cousins’ sudden new interest in Akko and how uncharacteristically polite she was acting, Diana briskly cuts into their conversation.

“Akko, the main dish of lamb chops is waiting.”

“Ah! I forgot! Everything is so good that I forgot!”

Diana was relieved to see that Akko was back to her usual self but Akko had to disrupt that peace when she thanked Aunt Daryl for inviting her.

“No need for formalities, Miss Kagari. In fact, we should be thanking you for accepting our sudden invitation. You see, we have simply taken a liking to you and wanted to spend more time with you, Miss Kagari.”

Akko choked on her casserole, followed quickly by Diana with her mashed potato.

 “A-aunt Daryl, what do you mean by that?”

“Just as I’ve said, we have taken a liking to Miss Kagari, Diana.”

“I recall that your first impression of Akko wasn’t in a positive light and that there were no opportunities for you to have a conversation with her that could have changed your mind.”

“It’s true that I didn’t have a chance to directly talk with her that time, but my snakes spoked quite highly of her, making me fond of Miss Kagari.

Diana understood Aunt Daryl’s explanation, but Akko was too busy still choking on her casserole. If it hadn’t been to Merril handing her water and Marril patting her back, Akko was convinced she would have passed out by the lack of oxygen.

“Cough! By snakes do you mean her familiar? What about them?”

“Her snakes reported the battle that occurred in the Cavendish Cathedral.”

“Uh. Wouldn’t you dislike me then?”

“Not at all, Miss Kagari. Your hurried magic and risky behavior tickled my motherly instincts to the point that I want you to become my daughter.”

Akko could only muster a polite smile before diving into the main dish.

Aren’t I a genius to ignore everything else except for these lamb chops! These are heaven! No wonder why Diana grew up with a style like that. Mhm. Juicy. Very juicy.

Akko was in food heaven, but Diana just had to drag her back to earth with her questions.

 “Then, Merril! Why have you taken a liking to Akko!?”

“I love Miss Akko when she eats. In fact, I feel full when I see her eat so happily. Ideally, I’d like to feed her as well.”

Oh, so that’s why she offered a lot of the side dishes to me…Wait, feed me!?

 “Marril, how about you!?”

“I love her childish side. Miss Akko is expressive that I wouldn’t get bored watching her face…Although, I do find your face right now to be quite childish as well, Diana.”

Yeah, it’s easy to tell what I’m thinking because I show it on my face. Maybe if I could be like Diana who is always calm…huh? Diana being childish!?

 With her eyes away from the meat, Akko was greeted with a rare sight.

Diana was blushing on a scale of medium rare, no, rare and her shoulders were shaking. As if she was about to explode.

“I…”

“Hmm?? What’s wrong, Diana?”

The twins giggles pushed Diana over the edge.

“I’m fond of Akko as well!! How she does dangerously stupid things, how she stuffs her face with food, how she’s incredibly childish at times! When she talks about Shiny Chariot, how annoying she can be, even when she gets sad! I like everything about Akko! Way before you three!”

“Is that ‘like’ as in ‘like~’?”    “Or as in ‘love~’?”

“It’s love     “COUGH MMPHG!!”

Akko choking again brought Diana back to reality, but it was too late to undo what she had done.

“My, quite a passionate confession of love, isn’t it Diana?”

 With Aunt Daryl getting the last laugh, Diana’s face burned as if she was having a heat stroke in the middle of summer.

On the other hand, Akko was also blushing just like Diana, but for Akko…

Instead of summer, spring has arrived.

   Should I celebrate Christmas here? Or maybe Japan? … I should ask Diana later.

[lucietope]

Colour Information Collected So Far

Red:

Sound: a loud explosion, the sirens of a fire engine or ambulance, an alarm, a heartbeat, drums

Taste: hot and spicy chillies, tangy peppers, sweet strawberries, sweet, intense, cherries,  blood, metallic,

Touch: standing outside in the sun and feeling its heat, burnt skin

Smell: burning cinnamon, fruity berries, roses

Emotion: feeling embarrassed and your cheeks are blushed, the overwhelming feeling of anger and aggression, the uncontrollable feeling of love and passion, when all your senses are alert, an urgent feeling, grabbing your attention to stop, feeling pain from bleeding, madness and out of control, emotions that make you act out of character

 Danger, anger, pain, embarrassed, passion, love, blushed, red cheeks, alert, urgent, attention, stop, aggression, sex, madness, action, energy

 Experience: They had me stand outside in the sun. They told me that the heat I was feeling is red. They explained that red is the colour of a burn, from heat, embarrassment, or even anger.

 Burn, heat, danger, anger, sun, blood, fire, hot, embarrassed, blushed, red cheeks, spicy, peppers, apples, chillies, strawberries, sweet, intense, cherries,  sirens, alarms, alert, urgent, attention, stop, sex, strength, aggression, madness, explosion, pain

 Orange:

Sound: Neutral, it is neither stop nor is it go, sounds like kids playing, having fun, giggling and laughter, birds tweeting, fire crackling,

Taste: sweet and tangy, tropical fruits and juices, cocktails in the sun, refreshing and light, oranges, crunchy carrots, pumpkins, citrus, peaches, passionfruit, mango, zesty, radiant, sweet potato

Touch: Warm, soft, an orange peel, stingy eyes,

Smell: flames, citrus, tangy, oranges, sun lotion, burning candles, incense,

Emotion: Twilight, as the night begins to draw in on a sunny day, excitement, enthusiasm, encouraging, always on your side, walking down a road and stepping on crunchy leaves as the leaves fall in autumn

Refreshing, sweet, tropical, sun, warm, comfort, content, security, frustration, oranges, fruits,

 Yellow:

Sound: Pulsating energy, Caribbean drums

Taste: Sour lemons, sweet bananas, citrus, creamy custard, butter, pineapple, pina colada, sorbet, tart, sweet icing on a cake

Touch: Banana skins, dry, fluffy chicks, sand, warm skin,

Smell: Flowers blossoming, fruity, the beach

Emotion: Feeling full of energy, you are happy, being friendly and kind, the feeling of cheer, being optimistic and confident, the prospect of new life, bright and intense, it’s intensity can lead to frustration and anxiety, extremely visible, grabs your attention, irritating, feels like summer,

 Lemons, banana, sour, citrus, sweet, nourishing, sun, bright, happy, friendliness, cheerfulness, optimism, confidence, anxiety

 Green:

Sound: Peace, the rainforest, a breeze, a frog croaking, parakeets tweeting in a bush, crunchy

Taste: Cold cucumbers, crunchy green beans, broccoli, soft peas, juicy apples, spinach, salad leaves, brussel sprouts, cabbage, herbs, basil, coriander, thyme, rosemary, olives, limes, bitter grapes

Touch: Holding soft leaves and wet grass, both smooth and crisp,

Smell: Fresh mint, clean air, musty, rotten, green is natural and can smell either good or bad, vegetables, herbal, freshly cut grass, toothpaste, mossy, foul

Emotion: Feeling alive, growth, feeling healthy and balanced, green is clean and encouraging, mother nature, feeling refreshed, suppleness, peace and harmony, feeling jealous or envious, restful, soothing, healing, decaying and poisonous, hydrated

 I held soft leaves and wet grass. They told me green felt like life. To this day it is still very much my favourite colour.

Alive, plants, smooth, suppleness, leaves, life, salad, lettuce, spinach, clean, crisp, earth, bitter, mint, fresh, healthy, balance, refreshment, harmony, environment, peace, disgusting, ew, rotten, zombie

 Blue:

Sound: The sounds of waves crashing, droplets running from a tap, the sound of rain against a window, a gushing waterfall, a river current, light and heavy, quiet and loud, soft and powerful

Taste: Sweet blueberries, artificial bubblegum, peppermint, salty, like the sea, briny

Touch: Running your hands through water, dipping into a pool, wet, laying your head on your pillow, denim

Smell: The dentist or the doctors, medical, men’s aftershave, the salty sea

Emotion: That omnipresent coolness you feel whilst swimming, feeling relaxed, blue is cool and light, feeling intelligent, feels like having a cold, a runny nose, feeling down, icy, distant, isolated, conservative and traditional, tranquillity, secure and orderly, lonely, masculine, unappetising, heavenly, emotional, inspirational

 Cool, water, light, clear, deep, wet, relaxing, waves, calm, nice, intelligence, coolness, serenity, logic, sky

They put my hands in their pool. They told me that that sensation I felt while swimming, that omnipresent coolness, that’s blue. Blue feels like relaxation.

 Purple:

Sound: Owls tweeting in a forest, magic, fictional children’s films, fantasy

Taste: Juicy plums, grapes, berries, parma violets sweets, aubergines

Touch: Velvet,

Smell: Lavender, musky and aromatic,

Emotion: Feeling luxurious, purple is mysterious and sometimes spooky, being aware of spirituality and your dreams, linked with royalty, imaginative, it is rare in nature so it is intriguing, exotic and artificial, regal, sensual, lush, peaceful, a deep daydream, wisdom, unearthly, evokes creativity, stimulates the body, a harmonious balance of awareness and peace, the feeling of escaping reality,

 Spiritual awareness, mystery, luxury, royalty, truth, dreams

 Pink:

Sound: noisy, little girl’s voices, people chatting, giggling

Taste: sweet, sugar, jelly beans, marshmallows, ice cream, lollipops, strawberries and cream, cupcakes, icing, doughnuts,

Touch: soft, fluffy things, light,

Smell: Women’s perfume, bubblegum, candy floss at a fair, smells cheap, fruity and sweet, floral, blossom

Emotion: feeling nurtured, pink is warm and comforting, feeling feminine, light hearted and bubbly, can regulate moods, youthful, good health, playfulness, the feeling of your first love,  innocent and cheerful,  caring and compassionate, the feeling of unconditional love, motherly love, considerate, the feeling that everything will go well and be okay, a sign of hope,  tender, intuitive, comfort, gentle, emotional, takes us back to our childhood, inexperience, naivety, lack of self-confidence and self-esteem

 Nurture, warmth, femininity, love

 White:

Sound: peace, silence, slow music, a piano

Taste: bland, flavourless, simple, vanilla, milk, cream, thick, white chocolate

Touch: can be soft, crisp, fluffy, smooth, snowflakes slowly falling on your face, icy cold, hard like diamonds

Smell: clean and pure, fresh linen, washing powder, soap, powdery, aquatic, lilies,

Emotion: heavenly, a feeling of clarity, innocence, feeling at peace, emptiness, loneliness,  can create space,  sterile, can feel empty and unfriendly, untouched, a blank canvas, a new beginning or fresh start, harmonious, safe, fresh, a feeling of concentration and focus, serious, the opposite of black, light

 Grey:

Sound: heavy rainfall, thunder,

Taste: bland and dull, beans and plain oatmeal, chalky

Touch: concrete, hard walls, dry surfaces, harsh to the skin, a sturdy road under your feet, cold, dead, stones, gravel, cold

Smell:

Emotion: dull, nothingness, it is futuristic, architectural, depression, boredom, feeling tired and lacking energy, has no personality, it is unattached and unresponsive, neutral, indecisive, emotionless, strong and steady, cool, a feeling of restraint, holding yourself back, it is exhausting and discouraging, formal, never captivating, mature and obliging, associated with old age, our hair turns grey, modest, hard working, being ill

 Concrete, walls, pavements, metal, hard, cool or hot, strong, sturdy, road, dead, storm, thunder, rain, sky, dark, depressing

 Brown:

Sound: sludging through mud

Taste: mushrooms, coffee, a rich chocolate cake, dry like toast, crumble, cookies, warm and nutty, cereal, wheat, caramel, chocolate, cashews, roast dinners, meat, pies and gravy, hot chocolate, tea

Touch: walking through mud, dirt, touching the bark of a tree, sandpaper, rough, dry, warm, solid like the earth

Smell: woody, coffee beans, the bark of a tree, landfill, bins, faeces, campfires, vanilla, smokey, decay, smells like baking cakes, cooking bread, food waste

Emotion: disliking something, feeling dirty and unclean, reliability, supportive, can feel cosy but can also feel dull, wholesome, the feeling of being full or bloated, comforting, secure, resilient, serious, duty and responsibility, honest and genuine, organic, the feeling of being outdoors,

 Earth, dead, dirt, crispy, reliability, support,

 Black:

Sound: the roar of engines, bass, screaming,

Taste: liquorice, dark chocolate, pepper, rich and intense, blackberries, charred food

Touch: smooth and hard,

Smell: coal, blown out flames, smoke

Emotion: feeling anxious, like the whole world is about to come crashing down, dark, depressed, gloomy, sad, misery, mourning, grieving, feeling hungry, clear winter nights, sophisticated and glamorous, menacing, oppressive, a feeling of dread, fear, the horrible feeling after having a nightmare, the opposite of white, dark

[prettyboyporter]

cider, cinnamon, and cocoa!

HELLO BB!!! *HUGS* 

cider - a food that you disliked as a child but now enjoy?I think veggies in general! You never would’ve caught me eating broccoli or brussel sprouts when I was little -- now I love those things. There are some that I still have an aversion to eating, but now I enjoy them MUCH more. 

cinnamon - if you had to live in a time period different than the present, which would you choose and where?If we’re talking about the *past*, then ancient Egypt. I *love* the sun’s light and warmth, and sometimes wonder if I have an old Egyptian soul in me somewhere who’s got flowers in her hair and kohl under her eyes for the Sun Festival. 

cocoa - if you could have any type of hair, what colour and cut would you have?I would have hair that is *thicker* for sure. My hair is just kind of thin and fine and I’d *love* to have more to play with. I’d love to do some sort of purple or blue or pink hair, maybe ALL Of those colors, lol, and have some sort of kickass layered mullet. 

Thanks for the ask my darling

[exceldsdeo-blog]

Have been doin the Keto! Started in April at 235lbs am now just above 200. Got this book as a guide only. As always y'all know consult a physician before any diet and exercise routine. I found it's the 1st two weeks that are hardest. Getting past the carb and sugar cravings and sticking to healthy fats and proteins and above ground vegetables. This program is 1/3 protein, 1/3 healthy fat, 1/3 above ground vegetables. For me personally at 60 years old. I dont do all the organic stuff. For protein I go for the smaller store uncooked uncured bratwurst. They're perfect portions of protein with some fat. I boil them 15 minutes then throw on a charcoal grill with hickory for 15 minutes. They get juicy boiled and smoky good flavor. Do a bunch in succession and throw in the freezer becomes quick and easy to heat up with plain frozen veggies usually cauliflower or broccoli or Brussels sprouts and 1/2 an avocado. Since drinking half body weight in water ounces am drinking about 3 quarts throughout the day total. Have all the coffee I want 50% decaf. Have dark chocolate from Sprouts bin from Columbia along with hazelnuts and pecans for a small between meal snack. Important thing for me is to walk 15-20 minutes immediately after eating for 2-3 meals each day. Walking after meal on regular basis tells brain that healthy fats and are on the way so can go ahead and burn stored fats instead of storing them. Book is good for info basics. Like since eliminating milk because of carbs need calcium supplement with each meal along with some magnesium citrate and some multivitamin mineral with D + K to absorb. Since have 1/2 avocado that has potassium still sometimes take potassium supplement. Look up proper miligrams and all for your body weight. The book by itself is cheap on Amazon. Plus Google keto gives all sorts of keto nutrient pyramids. I have found just walking after meals plus regular indoor/outdoor chores are enough exercise to burn calories on a low carb program. You can have around 6% carbs which for me is a slice of bread or two each day. I get the Dave's organic Good Seed bread since a % of each slice is seeds which are in the keto diet anyway and the balance % is organic whole grains which I pair with some philly cream or some sharp cheddar cheese(only a little), or some grass fed butter from Braums. It's not that hard after first weeks, the body starts to crave the healthy fats instead and if you pause anywhere for some fries or pie your taste buds and body totally dislike the carby sugary stuff so you throw it away and go for something with avocado and a decent protein. I also get regular in bone with skin chicken thighs I cook up at once after removing skin cuz enough fat without skin and pull apart after baked and cooled and throw in freezer bags in freezer, makes a good snack to have a bit of dark meat before bed while reading a book. Aaaaaanyway Ellen, yall good luck! But be sure and do it right...consult your doctor, educate supplements and fats proteins and veggies and exercise then just stick to it, reach for some water instead of snacking and think about getting back into those skinny jeans!

[theround1aspie]

Reflecting back the last 25 years of my life.

Last July, I turned 25. Many things have changed since then. As many of you know, I was diagnosed with autism early on in my life. Life has been a difficult journey since then. I’ve been allergic to gluten and dairy for the most of my life, and while I’m still allergic to the latter, I choose to abstain from the former so I don’t feel or behave strange. I was only able to begin talking at the age of four, which is due to being given books to read by my parents. Most people don’t learn to read until they are at least five or six. When I was in senior kindergarten, the staff thought I was too good so they had me help the Grade 1 students with some of their lessons. I’ve also done some really stupid things during my early years, such as intentionally failing a math quiz, but one thing that made me snap is when I was accused of calling someone a jerk when I was complimenting the nature outside. This incident back in Grade 6 opened my eyes to the numerous bullsh*t that plagues this world to this day.

Things didn’t really take a turn until 2008-2010. Around this time, I began Grade 8 at All Saints Catholic High School, which was a very traumatizing year for me. It was here where I realized that the educational assistants (EA) were nothing but corrupt and abusive. It came to the point where I kicked an EA because I was being forced to study for Religion, which resulted in me getting suspended. I was suspended a total of five times during those years, 60% of which were EA-related. To this day, I still show no remorse for those EA-related incidents. Even then, I had more respect for the vice principals than the EAs since they actually had wisdom. In 2010, it was a hard time for my family as my grandmother had major surgery and my uncle was diagnosed with bladder cancer. It made me realize that death is a serious thing. In both cases, both survived and are still alive as of this writing.

The last three years of high school were easier than the first three, simply because I did not have EA support. As said in the previous paragraph, the EAs were the cause for most of my suspensions and removing their support undeniably did a lot of good for me. Whereas some people with special needs would stay behind after they graduated, I elected to leave immediately in 2013 simply because I could not deal with more EA abuse. However, one thing that came out of having to deal with this is that the schools knew my problems and accommodated them for me. In hindsight, my classmates and the VPs were not the issue. The high school EAs were since they were treating special needs children, teenagers I shall say, as five year olds. For some reason they thought games like Street Fighter or Tekken were the most violent thing ever; neither series has a Mature-Rated game and it shows the obvious mediocrity of the unionized OCSB staff.

After my graduation, my appreciation for fighting games grew, as I played the hell out of games like Guilty Gear Xrd, Street Fighter V, and Tekken 7, understanding the basics of the systems and learning advanced terminology like just frame, lag cancel, 8-way run, and advanced block. I would even practice for hours learning some really silly combos, even though I was nowhere near the tournament level. In 2017, I also started to really love metal music after listening to Sirius XM Liquid Metal for like eight months. I would listen to landmark albums like Heartwork by Carcass, Calculating Infinity by The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Angel and the Dark River by My Dying Bride, Through Silver in Blood by Neurosis, and even Painkiller by Judas Priest. I would even talk to a friend named Xigrame who’s a local black metal musician who worked at this video gaming night on Mondays during mid-2018 up until the COVID-19 pandemic began. He would give me band suggestions now and then. I have since took to the internet, discovering bands that I’ve never heard of like Havukruunu, Undeath, and even Wake who happens to be from Canada just like me.

Being autistic has been rather difficult for me, especially in the age of the internet. Folks that don’t know me too well know that I’m on the spectrum. It’s also hard because of my conservative views. Ever since 2015, I’ve learned that the Liberal party, doesn’t matter if it’s federal or provincial, continues to push for climate change but also increasingly adding to the federal debt. They also promote diversity, which is essentially including people based on their ethnicity, religion, sexuality, or even disability. I’m not against this personally, since autistic people are part of the diversity logic. I’m not a person who discriminates, I generally treat everybody as equal. Even with COVID-19 going on, there’s no excuse for everybody else’s bad behavior; online or offline, and regardless of political alignment.

As for me personally, I’ve had things that I could not stand back then, but now I either really enjoy. I wasn’t crazy for pasta or lamb when I was younger, but now I’m able to have them without even thinking about gagging. I didn’t have a lot of steak when I was 8 to 10, but now I eat it very frequently. Some people who complain about eating meat don’t seem to know that steak is VERY expensive. If you go to a restaurant, they generally charge you $20 or $30 on average for your favorite cut of steak. At places like Loblaws or Costco, it’s higher. So if you’re going to complain that veganism is the purest thing to man, understand that having steak for dinner is a privilege. I’m very much against veganism since a lot of people on the diet lose a ton of muscle/power and are generally faced with numerous health issues. Interestingly, I couldn’t tolerate onions or celery when I was younger because of the noise that it made in my head, but now they’re not really an issue. It’s weird because most children can’t stand broccoli or brussel sprouts but I’ve never really disliked them. With that in mind, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower and meat are all good for you since the former three induce testosterone and that meat gives you a lot of protein.

But the one thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me is that exercise is very important for your health. During the pandemic, I would go in the workout shed every second day, eventually everyday, and exercise certain parts of my body. I would alter workout routines based on where I’m feeling sore. I’ve also learned that exercising regularly helps combat you from getting sick. As of this writing, I have not gotten sick since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic back in February 2020. I would also reduce my food consumption, basically skipping breakfast and lunch, but eating dinner which was usually meat and vegetables. The pandemic did a lot of good on my health since I’ve lost about 20-30 lbs from March to June 2020. I’ve been very cautious of what I consume, rarely consuming junk food. Whereas my brothers would eat junk food very often during COVID, I would use coffee and dark chocolate as my vices, which played rather well.

In July of 2020, I would turn 25 and I was grateful that I made it far in my life. The many hurdles I faced, whether it be from having autism, world issues, being a conservative voter, or even living through hardships like the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me that I’m only human. As a human, you’ve got to face hardships during your life. My grandparents had to live through World War II and my parents lived through the Reagan Era. You’re also built to make choices during your life, with each choice you make shaping your personality. For example, I really like video games (especially fighting games), metal music, working out, eating fine cooked steak, and believing in conservatism. When life gets rough, don’t let the world bring you down. People are made to adapt to situations and we just roll the dice. No matter what number shows up, we always win because we are warriors, able to get through anything. Stay strong.

R1A out!

[grundyscribbling]

@lordnelson100 said:

There's a pretty solid theory that there's a gene which influences how people taste plants in the brassica family (broccoli/brussel sprouts/cabbage), so to some humans they're delish and others, gross:  https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2011/nov/01/brussel-sprout-gene

Isn't that kooky? But it's an interesting natural demonstration of subjectivity, in the sense that people are literally tasting different things, not disagreeing about the same experience

I (and my parent) have a strong like for bitter greens, olives, anchovies and bluefish, black coffee . . .presumably genetics plays a role

Actually, I’d guess it’s good for the survival of the species that there is that kind of variation in taste. If a taste is universal and the source of that taste develops a novel defense (toxin, allergen, etc) there’s potential to wipe out large numbers of individuals, possible to the point of threatening the species. Variation in taste means at least some individuals are likely to have an aversion to a given taste.

In my case, I unfortunately combine a strong aversion for brassicas (sole exception: kohlrabi, but I’m not sure that counts, being as it’s the root, not the leaves) with a strong aversion for fish. (I also dislike coffee, but not to the same extreme as brassicas or fish.) The brassica dislike seems to be a fluke, as I’m the only one in my family with it, but the fish I get from my grandmother, which makes it hilarious that she’s the only one who ever forced the issue and made me eat it. (Poor three year old me tried to tell her it was making me sick to my stomach. She didn’t believe me and insisted I clean my plate. I did - and promptly threw it all right back up. At the table, because she wouldn’t excuse me to run to the bathroom. My youngest uncle still cries laughing whenever he thinks about that dinner.)

[fizzingwizard]

why is it that i can’t stand coffee? I really wish I could because, aside from it’d probably be nice to be able to get a morning caffeine jolt like so many people do, it’s just in everything. Especially everything chocolate, and i love chocolate. And especially in Japan, where chocolate’s been growing in popularity but is still very often mixed with coffee to undercut its sweetness.

One time my mom made a chocolate cake. I took one bite and asked, “Does this have coffee in it?” She stared at me like I had three heads and said, “... Yes, but only the tiniest bit.” To me it tasted more like coffee than chocolate. I don’t know if I’m just uber sensitive to it or what.

When I worked in Japan the first time, when I visited different schools the staff would serve me a drink while I waited for my introduction. Usually the drink was tea, so I looked forward to it. But now and then it was coffee. The cups were small, so for several months I forced myself to drink it. Then one day, I started to drink one and my stomach just rebelled. After that, just the small of coffee has been enough to make me feel sick. By coincidence, coffee wasn’t served to me very much after that, so I was safe. But coffee turns up in all sorts of desserts and is many people’s drink of choice, so disliking it to the extent I do is really inconvenient.

Plus, there’s a level of embarrassment. Ability to drink coffee is somehow wrapped up in adulthood. If you can’t drink coffee, you’re a child who can’t handle bitter flavors. :P Well, bitter may not be my favorite flavor, but I eat and enjoy plenty of bitter things, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, brussel sprouts, etc. And I like tea and wine (but not beer). I can’t explain why I don’t like coffee, but it’s a physical reaction. It doesn’t just not taste good, it literally turns my stomach. And it is frustratingly hard to avoid!

[wickedwitzh]

Autumnal asks: cider, fireside!

aa thank you!

cider - a food that you disliked as a child but now enjoy?

broccoli and spinach. I adore spinach. Pasta with spinach or salads with spinach give me life.

I still hate brussel sprouts and meatballs tho.

fireside - if you had your dream wardrobe, what would it look like?

ooh this is a hard one but it would contain a lot of oversized sweaters, knee-long coats, nice boots, generally business casual attire and nice T-shirts...

i mean either that or i would finally be able to fulfill my dream job as a village witch, in which case it still would be sweaters, coats and boots but all in black and with a hat to go with it!

[garcell06]

New Post has been published on myweightlossfun.com

New Post has been published on https://www.myweightlossfun.com/nutrition-data/mindful-eatingchoosing-foods-that-promote-wellness/

Mindful Eating:Choosing Foods That Promote Wellness

Some years ago, the term “mindful eating” was born as a tool to teach to eat with a full understanding of why we are doing it. This concept comes from the mindfulness described by Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. in molecular biology and founder of Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society (University of Massachusetts).

The theory aims to act with present-day, non-elaborative mindfulness, which every thought, feeling or sensation arising in the field of attention is recognized and accepted as it is.

Mindful eating generally does not concern itself with the foods you eat. Instead, it focuses more on how the foods make you feel. The approach is meant to make it less stressful for you so that you don’t feel like you’re starving or denying yourself too much.It’s like the rudder is in your hands and where you decide to travel is your choice. The goal is to make you want to eat better and feel better. Over time, your food choices are supposed to be more informed, and you will think before you eat.

This is a sensible approach. However, in most cases, women adopt mindful eating with a goal in mind. They’re either interested in losing weight, feeling healthier or remedying some health problem like high cholesterol, diabetes, etc.

These women wish to become healthy and may also have an exercise regimen that they follow. So, it would be prudent to mindfully choose foods that promote fitness and good health. In this article, we’ll look at food choices that you may wish to explore. The hard truth is that processed and unhealthy foods are addictive and even if you eat mindfully, the body will still crave these foods and you’ll continue consuming them.

The goal should always be to wean yourself off these poor food choices and only consume them occasionally. To do that, you’ll need to choose healthy foods now and then even if you’re eating mindfully.

Taking into account your food beliefs, eating habits, preferences and dislikes, you’ll need to analyze why you like certain foods and how you can replace them with healthier options. For example, if you like consuming a can of soda while watching TV, you may realize that it’s not the soda you like but the cold, sweet taste of liquid going down your throat. What if you replaced the soda with iced, freshly squeezed apple juice?

You would feel just as good. The natural sugars from the apple juice would be a good substitute for the soda which is just a mixture of chemicals, sugar and water. The same applies to any other food. When you eat mindfully, you’ll constantly be thinking about how you can improve your diet. Now let’s look at some of the best foods that you can eat to promote better health and fitness.

Choosing Foods Mindfully

* Fibrous vegetables

This is a good news, bad news situation. The bad news is that many women hate their veggies. The good news is that you can eat as much fibrous vegetables as you want without worries about gaining weight.

Fibrous vegetables will take up a lot of space in your stomach and make you feel full faster. When eating, it’s best to slowly chew and swallow all the veggies first. Your stomach will get full faster and you’ll be less likely to overeat the other foods. The end result is better digestion, less calories consumed and weight loss.

A few examples of fibrous vegetables are, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, beets, cucumbers, spinach, watercress, green beans, okra, asparagus, cabbage, eggplant, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, collard greens, celery, turnips, bean sprouts, etc.

* Lean proteins

Replacing fatty meat with lean cuts of meat is another great way to improve your diet. The taste will mostly be the same so you won’t be giving up too much. Instead of eating hamburgers from junk food outlets, you’re better off eating a lean cut of beef.

You’ll feel satiated and the protein from the lean cut of meat is exactly what your body needs. Try and get lean cuts of any type of meat you consume. When eating chicken, remove the skin. Boiling, roasting and grilling are always better than frying.

Eggs are great for keeping you healthy and preventing hunger cravings. Many women who eat two eggs a day for breakfast often lose more weight and have more energy. The protein in the eggs is responsible for this.

Since eggs are tasty, you can eat them without worry but try not to eat more than three a day.Mindfully eating is not only about cultivating a healthy relationship with food but it’s also about choosing the right foods to make you feel better and look better. When you give your body the nutrients it needs, it will not constantly develop hunger pangs. Weight loss will also become much easier.

Many women struggle to lose weight because of food cravings. Their bodies are not getting the right nutrients and they’re addicted to sugar and other harmful ingredients. By slowly, replacing the foods with healthier alternatives, the cravings will subside.The excess weight will also melt off since it becomes easier to lose weight when there are less toxins in the body and fewer insulin spikes. So, do remember to make small changes for the better in your diet when you’re eating mindfully.

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[samirgianni]

My Favourite Vegetable Varieties - A Retrospective

When we first started gardening we tried lots and lots of different varieties. That's part of the fun of getting started gardening, and we still like to trial at least a few new (to us) things each year. As time has gone on though, certain varieties have moved into the position of being regulars, or even "the one". While I hope my sharing this list with you will be helpful when you make decisions about varieties for your garden, keep in mind this is a personal list. It's the varieties that suit our garden soil, our climate, our exposure, our gardening habits, our cooking style, and our personal tastes both in vegetables generally and specific varieties in particular. One persons ideal garden may look absolutely nothing like anothers. We lean towards heritage varieties, and things that are indeterminate and need support. Partly this is determined by our personalities (we both like to do work up front to save labour later), our locality (short tomatoes don't produce for us, due to septoria leaf spot fungus in the garden), and our tastes (many people including us think pole peas and beans produce better-tasting vegetables). Our near-by gardening friends prefer f1 hybrids as a matter of their personal culture, and short, determinate plants due to their exposed hilltop location - anything staked is likely to blow down pretty quickly, and the list of varieties we each grow has hardly any overlap at all. Something else to keep in mind: when you grow a variety for a while, you form a relationship with it. You learn how to grow it, how to store it, and how to cook it. Some varieties that have been disappointments to us may have been so because we don't understand them and what they need. I will mention a few things that I suspect fall into that category.  Still, now that we've been gardening in this site for nearly 10 years, we can tell you what works for us and to some degree, what doesn't, and why. Of course this is a work in progress, and our garden will continue to evolve. Some of these are obscure and hard to find; for that I apologize. Most of them are sold by at least one Canadian seed house. For now though, these are our favourites: LEAFS: Broccoli: Broccoli in general has not done that well for us; our soil doesn't suit brassicas. However, we have had some success with Green Sprouting, Di Ciccio, Solstice, and Goliath. Purple Peacock (a cross between broccoli and kale) is the only broccoli that has overwintered for us (once) and produced in the spring. I keep meaning to plant it late and try again, and keep forgetting. Brussels Sprouts: Again, not a lot of success with Brussels sprouts. Catskill (aka Long Island) are widely available and do okay. Red Ball (aka Red Bull) and Roodnerf are red sprouts and have been even more iffy for us. Kale sprouts (a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale) have done reasonably well for us; the ones I've grown have been home-made hybrids. Cabbage: One of the better brassicas for us. Chieftain Savoy is the only savoy we've tried; it's done okay enough for us to persevere with it but I'd be open to trying another when the seed runs out. Early Copenhagen and Early Jersey Wakefield have both done well as mid-summer, eat-now cabbages. January King and Late Flat Dutch have been good late storage cabbages. Our best cabbages however, have been grown from seeds of January King crossed with Chieftain Savoy in our own garden. Presumably even in that one year of growing we got seeds better adapted to our garden, so if you can get cabbages to overwinter I believe it is well worth while to save your own seed. Mind you don't get a sterile hybrid if you want to do that though. In red cabbages, Kalibos has been moderately successful, and Red Express not at all. The only Chinese cabbage we have grown was Bilko hybrid, and it did very well. Cauliflower: Results have been mostly dire. On occasion, we have gotten a cauli, mostly from Early Snowball and Amazing. Expensive hybrids have not done any better for us, if even as well. Romanesco types seem to be easier and more reliable (for certain values of "easy" and "reliable") than the white ones. Celery & Celeriac: Bog standard Utah52, Golden Self Blanching (preferred) celery and Giant Prague celeriac have done well for us, which is not to say they have done really well. Again, our soil is not friendly to plants of marsh origins. In general, celeriac does much better for us than celery. Various red celeries in particular have been poor - tough and hollow - and pricey hybrid celeriacs such as President, Mars, and Prinz have been good, but not so distinguished as to really justify their hefty prices. Kale: Not our favourite veg, so we haven't grown a lot of it even though it is probably the easiest brassica for us to grow. Red Russian is practically a weed. We let it go to seed 7 years ago, and still had a self-seeded plant pop up last summer. Black Tuscan (lacinato, dinosaur) was a bit harder to grow, but it did, and I like it better for flavour. If I was inclined, I suspect it would improve for our garden through seed saving. Groninger Blue is another one that did very well. Kohlrabi: As usual with brassicas, generally a slog in our garden. Gigante has done better than the more commonly found Vienna White and Vienna Purple, which have done poorly. Leeks: Giant Musselburgh has been our standard since we first started gardening. Bluer leaved varieties such as Bandit are supposed to be winter hardier, but we've never had a leek of any variety that hasn't pulled through (except Inegol, which isn't available in Canada anyway, and even then about 95% made it). Verdonnet is one we got from the U.S., also not available here at this time, but which has done well. Lettuce: We've had some problems with lettuce too. Yes, this is a theme throughout the leaf crops - our soil is sandy, fast draining, low in organic matter, and a bit on the acidic side. On the other hand, lettuces have proven to be more adaptable than the brassicas, on a more varietal by varietal basis. Ones which have done well include Tom Thumb, which will stay edible even as it starts to bolt - the only such lettuce I know of. Adriana is a fine standard leaf lettuce, as is Black Seeded Simpson. Aussie Yellow is very similar but does not seem to do any better in my experience even though it is described as heat tolerant. May King (sometimes known as May Queen) can be planted earlier than most varieties and has done really well for us. If you are looking for red leafed lettuces New Red Fire, Ruby, and Red Sails have been the best for us. All of the varieties which are green with red spots (freckled) that we have tried so far have done really well. Amish Deer Tongue and Taiwan Sword Leaf did not suit us; we found them tough and uninteresting. Notably, they are traditionally varieties for cooking not eating raw. Dixter MI grows beautifully for us, but we find the flavour bitter. Likewise Merlot is beautiful and probably the darkest red variety out there, but again, we find it too bitter. Spinach: Bloomsdale is widely available and grows well. We find it a little thick and firm for raw eating, and prefer Giant Winter. There are a lot of strains of Giant Winter; I don't know that any of them are all that different. We've tried various hybrid spinaches at times, and have found them no better; just more expensive. Swiss Chard: We have grown and liked Bright Lights (Rainbow or 5 Colour), Green Perpetual, and Lucullus. All of them are good and easy to grow. Bright Lights is the prettiest, Green Perpetual stands the latest in the fall, and Lucullus is the best tasting in our experience and opinion. Miscellaneous Greens: In general, although we love them, we have found Chinese greens hard to grow. Many of them are small plants, slug magnets, and inclined to bolt to seed. Container growing has worked best for us. Tatsoi has been the easiest to grow by far; alas we find the least desirable for flavour. Rapini has been mixed. We get the "40 day" variety and in cool springs it is fabulous. If it turns hot though, your rapini will be bitter. We don't bother with the "60 day" varieties because the odds of it being ready in cool weather are even worse. Arugula does well for us. Mr. Ferdzy doesn't like it. We tried Astro, which is a milder version, last summer and Mr. Ferdzy's verdict was that he "dislikes it less". So I guess I will continue to grow it, and sneak a little into salads for my own tastes. It grows just as well and as quickly as the standard. Orach has in theory grown well for us. In practice the deer eat it. I guess I should mention I have no corn recommendations for the same reason (well, raccoons rather than deer, but yeah. Gone before harvest). For turnip greens I actually like any rutabaga variety instead. I've been growing Spigiarello like broccoli and have not been happy with it but it occurs to me I should be growing it like it's a turnip green. I will try and report back this summer, maybe. Does that apply to Piracicaba too? Possibly. We haven't found any fennel all that different from any other fennel thus far. FRUITS: Cucumbers: For pickling, Sumter has been best but if you can't get it Chicago Pickling is fine. Kaiser Alexander had excellent flavour but lacked disease and insect resistance. Tante Alice is impressively productive and hardy. Muncher is an easily found and grown Beit Alpha (Persian) type that will grow outdoors very happily. Telegraph Improved has done well for us. We grew Yamato Sanjaku for a few years but it's hard to get and we ran out of seed; I will be trying Shintokiwa which looks very similar in its place. Little Leaf H19 is one I remember doing well in our allotment days; hard to find now but a good choice for container growing. Eggplants: Ping Tung is probably our favourite eggplant. Kamo and Listada de Gandia also did well for us. We were unimpressed by Little Fingers. Melons: Melons can be pretty iffy with many doing well one year but not another. Consistent performers for us have been Gnadenfeld (orange fleshed), Early Hanover (green fleshed), Collective Farm Woman (white fleshed - a winter storage melon, actually) and Sweet Freckles (an orange fleshed Crenshaw type melon). Peppers - Mild: Like tomatoes, peppers are awfully subjective. They are a little harder to grow in Ontario than tomatoes though, so some of the best are the best just because they grow well here. Anyway, our regulars are Cubanelle (getting to be hard to find), Hungarian Sweet Banana (more reliable than exciting), Doe Hill, Alma Paprika, and Chervena Chushka. We liked Jimmy Nardello but somehow it has not become a regular. Alma Paprika is productive and good fresh or dried and ground. Peppers - Hot: We don't go for anything too crazy. In order of hotness, we seem to have settled into growing Ancho Poblano, Aleppo, Fish, Early Jalapeño, Long Red Cayenne, Aji Rojo and Orange Thai. One plant of that last will produce enough very hot little dried peppers to last us several years. Squash, Summer: Zucchini to you, but also scallop squash (those little flying saucer shaped, uh, zucchini). These are pretty much all of the species pepo, which means that with each other they will cross. Black Beauty is the standard but Costato Romanesco tastes better, even if it produces a little less. Golden is very popular here, but productivity is not that great. Ronde de Nice looks like a novelty but again, it has excellent flavour and works well for stuffing. Lebanese White Bush is another good one. Tatume is a bit different in that it is one of the few long vining (as opposed to bush) varieties available, but if you have the space it's terrific. Pattison Panaché and Woods Early are two good scallop squash. Squash, Winter: In general varieties of moschata and maxima species are considered better tasting than pepo varieties, but people's tastes do differ. Acorn squash have gotten to be the only pepo varieties we grow for winter keeping, and they don't really keep past January. Table Queen is the standard, and it's fine, but we have liked the smaller, golden-skinned Thelma Sanders and Gill's Golden Pippin (in particular) better. Galeux d'Eysines and Baby Blue Hubbard are the stand-out maximas we've grown, and Waltham Butternut has been the standard in moschatas for a long time for a reason. You are starting to see smaller versions such as Nutter Butter which work better in smaller modern households, and which are just as good. In the other direction, we really liked Pennsylvania Neck Pumpkin. We are letting our moschatas all grow together and saving seed, which produces variable results but is a lot of  fun. So far it's all been decidedly edible. Tomatoes: These are so much a matter of personal taste it's hard to make recommendations, but I'll try! Note that there are a lot of terrific tomatoes we will not grow or try because the plants are too short to cope with our septoria leaf spot problem, but which may be the perfect tomatoes for someone else. I'm thinking, for example, of Bellestar as a canner, and Mountain Princess, which is an early, determinate, heavy producer of good slicers - kind of useless for the home gardener, but if I was a market gardener, I'd be all over it (along with other varieties for later in the season). In cherry tomatoes, we like Snow White, Ildi, Sun Sugar*, Isis Candy, Matt's Wild, Black Cherry, and Dancing with Smurfs. Why yes, this does give you a nice little rainbow selection. Green is the only colour not represented here, and there are certainly green cherry tomatoes out there. I haven't found one because I admit I'm not looking very hard. I'm also growing either a sport or a cross of Isis Candy that is a plain red and the first red cherry tomato I've really liked. In salad sized tomatoes, Stupice and Bloody Butcher (which I havne't grown) are the standards for earliness. Garden Peach and Green Zebra are novelty colours but really good tomatoes nevertheless. My favourite red is my own variety that I developed from a cross between Jaune Flammé - awfully good in it's own right - and an unknown red beefsteak. Goose Creek and Cosmonaut Volkov are maybe a little large to be in this group, but a little small for the next. They are both very fine tomatoes. The big slicers are the royalty of the tomato garden, and there's quite a list of ones we want to grow: Persimmon, Pineapple, Great White, Striped German, Paul Robeson, Franchi's Red Pear,  Japanese Black Trifele, We've kind of given up on Mammoth Cretan and Carol Chyko's Big Paste - they were impressively huge tomatoes with good flavour, but production was a bit variable, and once you've marveled at how enormous your tomatoes are, well then what? Three tomatoes that we tried and really didn't like at all were Marmande, Eva Purple Ball, and Sasha's Altai - but lots of people love these, so again, it's an awful lot to do with personal taste. As for paste tomatoes, Opalka has been a mainstay. Amish Paste is hugely productive but too watery to be a real paste tomato and we are slowly moving away from it. San Marzano Redorta and Hungarian Italian were a bit short but showed some septoria leaf spot resistance. Federle just didn't produce well, and Speckled Roman, much as we liked it, was too susceptible to the septoria leaf spot and had to be dropped. We've only grown Kosovo and Donskoi once, in a bad year; they looked promising enough I'm planning to try them again this year. Romeo can be hard to find but it's a fine paste tomato. Santa Clara Canner we got from 2 different sources because we couldn't believe how terrible it was the first time, but second time was same as the first, so no, that's what it's like - sour and watery. Martino's Roma are a really cute size, but thick tough skins make them hard to peel and too much work, and they are too juicy to can nicely as whole tomatoes so they too are rated as a bust. The last few years we've been saving seed from our best paste tomato plants and mixing them together without regard for the variety. There is definitely some crossing going on, and we are happy with the tomatoes we've been getting. We will continue to do this, perhaps occasionally throwing something new into the mix. Watermelon: Well you all know by now that I am now letting things cross and seeing what happens, but having grown a lot of watermelons in the last few years there are definitely a few that stand out. Golden Midget is amazingly early and better for flavour than it's reputation, especially in a cool summer. Small Shining Light is better than the look-alike Sugar Baby. Early Canada did very well for us. Grover Delaney is a very small watermelon, but with excellent texture and flavour. Sweet Siberian is a reliable small orange fleshed variety. Crimson Sweet is an extremely common watermelon as it is indeed the best and most reliable of the larger open pollinated red oblong watermelons. I haven't grown Early Moonbeam but hear nothing but good reports about it. Cream of Saskatchewan was sweet but bland and not productive for me, Moon and Stars was coarse fleshed and had a tendency to fail to close up properly and then rot, Orangeglo is really too late for our shortish season, and Blacktail Mountain didn't do much for us either. ROOTS: Beets: Early Wonder has been our best standard red; for some reason Detroit Dark Red refuses to grow in our soil. Cylindra is great for pickled beets or if you really want nice even slices and it grows well too. Touchstone Gold is the best yellow and Chioggia is the classic red and white bulls-eyed patterned beets; both well worth growing. MacGregor's Favourite requires long cooking but is a really lovely garden plant. Carrots: It took us a while to acclimatize our garden soil to carrots and to learn how to grow them, so we probably should go back and try a few varieties that didn't impress us at the start again. However, we have done well with St. Valery and Flakkee (Autumn King) as standard broad-shouldered winter storage carrots. Amsterdam Maxi is marketed as a baby carrot - and indeed you can pick them very small - but they grow to be a nice slender but substantial carrot that holds well in the ground if left. Pfalzer Yellow has been the best of the yellow carrots we have grown. We have not been impressed by white carrots in general (although we will keep trying) and for some reason have not really gotten into other colours. Onions: For sweet onions, we've been growing Siskiyou Sweet, a strain of Walla Walla. Early Yellow Globe was a reliable if slightly unevenly sized yellow storage onion. Rossa di Milano is an excellent red storage onion. I just saw it listed in Canada for the first time this year, but I've been growing and loving Rose de Roscoff (Kereval) which I don't think is exactly the Pink Onion that was available a few years back, but similar, for the last 2 years. Best French onion soup ever! Shallots: Most seed-grown shallots are hybrids, often sterile hybrids. Look for Zebrune (Banana) shallot which is a French seed-grown heirloom variety. Otherwise, shallots and potato onions are usually grown from sets. There are a lot of strains being passed around and I don't have much experience with most of them; also amateur hybridizers are playing around with seed from them. The true French Grey Shallot (allium oschaninii) is presently impossible to get; Richters is the only company in Canada listing them and they have been out of stock for the last 2 years. (If anyone has this, I would love to get some!) Parsnips: Are mostly fairly indistinguishable; Hollow Crown, Harris Model, Guernsey and Turga have all been good. Kral is the only one a little different; it is very wide at the shoulders and tapers down quickly, making it a good choice for heavier soils. Potatoes: My favourite potato ever is the good old Russet Burbank, and it grows well but needs steady moisture. Envol is an excellent fast summer potato, but it doesn't store well. German Butterball is similar to Russet Burbank, but yellow fleshed. Purple Viking is beautiful and delicious, but not a good keeper. Pink Fir Apple is an excellent fingerling, but it took us some time to figure out how to grow it and how to use it. Blue Russian and Red Thumb are pretty and we continue to grow some, but they are not staples for us. Radishes & Turnips: In summer radishes Cherry Belle is widely available, and has been very reliable for us.  French Breakfast and White Icicle are also good. Ostergruss Rosa are large and carrot shaped, but tender and good growers. We're still experimenting with different winter radishes; in general the Asian types are the best. The Black Spanish radish is a bit dull but improves with storage. Watermelon always looks so tempting but refuses to grow in our garden. I'm not a fan of white turnips, so no recommendations. I really like Goldana though; it's so sweet and nice it can be eaten raw. We grew Red Round very briefly and have not been able to get seed for it since but it too was excellent. I don't know if Scarlet Ohno Revival is similar or not; I haven't been able to get my hands on that either. Rutabaga: We have only grown Laurentian and York of the standard widely available rutabagas, and both were okay but struggle in our soil. We've saved seeds and I think they are doing better. Gilfeather also struggled a bit, but had an interesting more potato-like quality to it. Maybe a good choice for low carbers who want a potato substitute? And again, rutabagas make better turnip greens than turnips, for my taste. Sweet Potato: Georgia Jet is by far the best for productivity and reliability in our climate. Toka Toka I prefer for flavour. Frasier White was very nice but it took me a while to get used to it. Tainung 65 and Owairaka Red were similar to Georgia Jet but less productive. Purple Flesh is another one that will take some getting used to - the flesh really is an amazing purple. None of the sweet potatoes we have grown have had the strong orange colour of most commercial varieties. LEGUMES: A note about legumes in general - there is no other class of vegetable that is so easy to save seed from, and none that has shown such HUGE improvements from doing so. When we plant a new-to-us dried bean we expect to DOUBLE our subsequent production through careful seed selection. Peas are not quite so improvable, but we see steady increases in average number of peas per pod and general productivity as well. Beans, Bush, Fresh: We quickly gave up on growing these. Provider was pretty good, and Pencil Pod Black wax was delicious but diseases prone. Roma II was a good flat green bean. Goldrush was okay. Royal Burgundy was not at all impressive, as I recall - I can't recommend it. We have switched to pole beans without regret. Beans, Bush, Dry: A much more viable option. We've tried and liked Soldier, Kahl, Hidatsa Red, and Arikara Yellow which has become our favourite. Thibodeau de Comté Beauce has done okay, but always seems to get some nasty white fungus on it, so it's off the list. Beans, Pole, Fresh: Early Riser is our earliest pole bean and keeps going all summer if you keep them picked. Blue Lake S7 is our absolute favourite and the best for freezing. Other family members loved Fortex; we thought it was just okay and it struggled a bit with yellow bean mosaic virus the year we had it. Grandma Nellie's Yellow Mushroom bean is tasty and fun, but we seem to be gravitating to Annelino Yellow more these days. This one also makes a terrific dry bean if you leave them. Cherokee Trail of Tears is also a good dual-purpose bean. Purple Podded is probably better than Purple Peacock or Trionfo Violetto, but they are all good purples. Beans, Pole, Dry: In additon to Cherokee Trail of Tears and Annelino Yellow mentioned above, Blue Lake S7 makes a surprisingly good dried bean. Dolloff and Deseronto Potato Bean are our best beans just for drying, and they are terrific. I'm also giving more room to a Deseronto - Something else cross that showed up in the garden 2 years ago, as well as Anseloni's Bologna, which I don't believe is commercially available so oops for you. Snowcap was beautiful, as was True Red Cranberry but both of those struggled with diseases before bean diseases were a widespread garden problem here; we no longer grow them. Other Beans: Lima beans have not done well; we are still looking for a good variety. The same with long beans; Farmers Long did well the first year we grew it but struggled a little in last  years extreme heat and seems to be no longer listed anyway. We will be starting to look more at cow peas in general but right now I have no tried and true varieties (other than another one that is not commercially available). Peanuts: Valencia is pretty much the only thing available. It did only so-so but has improved a lot through selection, both in yield and mould resistance. Unfortunately we lost our improved seed and are starting from scratch again. Peas, Bush, Fresh Early: Strike is the earliest pea we know of, and determinate; we've been growing it to harvest within a 2 week period and then pull them out and replace them with bush dry beans. We tried Knight last year for the first time. It was a few days later but more productive and, we thought, better tasting peas. We will be planting more of it. We tried Misty a few years back but hadn't developed this technique at the time - it got discarded for being too early and too determinate; but it might work in this scenario. We've given up on Tom Thumb as and not quite early or determinate enough. Peas, Bush, 2nd Early: Laxton's Progress is very determinate and too late for the above plan. Large Manitoba got planted next to it by chance and my conclusion is that it is a selection out of Laxton's Progress, and the better of the 2 peas. Sutton's Harbinger, Harrison's Glory, Carter's Daisy - all great peas and hard to decide between.  Green Arrow and Homesteader are the standard varieties grown around here, but Green Arrow doesn't grab me for flavour and Lincoln (Homesteader) had serious disease problems the one time we grew it. Peas, Pole, Mid to Late: Ne Plus Ultra and Mrs Van are very similar, and overlap a little. Both excellent. Next come Tall Telephone and Champion of England. Carruther's Purple Pod is eye-popping, but the peas are an old fashioned olive colour, and a little bitter when raw - an acquired taste. Spanish Skyscraper is so late that the weather may be too hot for good fresh peas, but no problem - it's just as good used as a dry soup pea. In fact, they can be used in recipes that call for chick peas as they are very like them. Peas, Snow & Snap: Norli is a terrific little snow pea for early peas. Carouby de Maussane is our favourite later on, but it's a pole pea for sure. Golden Sweet is pretty but something of a novelty. People keep saying it's a good soup pea but I'm not impressed. We grow a few just to have a different colour. For snap peas, we glommed onto Amish Snap before we tried anything else much, and that was that. They are SO good. We also grow a few Sugar Magnolia, not quite so good in flavour but an amazing colour. Peas, Dry: Blue Pod Capucjiners is the only bush dry pea we've grown, and they can get pretty high actually. They have brown skins and seem more bean-like than pea-like when cooked. Zeiner's Gold (dries yellow) was not as productive as St. Hubert, which is a green pea when dried, but we think the taste is better. St Hubert is still good enough that we grow it regularly! I've just started selecting Zeiner's Gold for better production so we will see how it does over the next few years. from Seasonal Ontario Food http://seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/2017/02/my-favourite-vegetable-varieties.html

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Mindful Eating:Choosing Foods That Promote Wellness

Some years ago, the term “mindful eating” was born as a tool to teach to eat with a full understanding of why we are doing it. This concept comes from the mindfulness described by Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. in molecular biology and founder of Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society (University of Massachusetts).

The theory aims to act with present-day, non-elaborative mindfulness, which every thought, feeling or sensation arising in the field of attention is recognized and accepted as it is.

Mindful eating generally does not concern itself with the foods you eat. Instead, it focuses more on how the foods make you feel. The approach is meant to make it less stressful for you so that you don’t feel like you’re starving or denying yourself too much.It’s like the rudder is in your hands and where you decide to travel is your choice. The goal is to make you want to eat better and feel better. Over time, your food choices are supposed to be more informed, and you will think before you eat.

This is a sensible approach. However, in most cases, women adopt mindful eating with a goal in mind. They’re either interested in losing weight, feeling healthier or remedying some health problem like high cholesterol, diabetes, etc.

These women wish to become healthy and may also have an exercise regimen that they follow. So, it would be prudent to mindfully choose foods that promote fitness and good health. In this article, we’ll look at food choices that you may wish to explore. The hard truth is that processed and unhealthy foods are addictive and even if you eat mindfully, the body will still crave these foods and you’ll continue consuming them.

The goal should always be to wean yourself off these poor food choices and only consume them occasionally. To do that, you’ll need to choose healthy foods now and then even if you’re eating mindfully.

Taking into account your food beliefs, eating habits, preferences and dislikes, you’ll need to analyze why you like certain foods and how you can replace them with healthier options. For example, if you like consuming a can of soda while watching TV, you may realize that it’s not the soda you like but the cold, sweet taste of liquid going down your throat. What if you replaced the soda with iced, freshly squeezed apple juice?

You would feel just as good. The natural sugars from the apple juice would be a good substitute for the soda which is just a mixture of chemicals, sugar and water. The same applies to any other food. When you eat mindfully, you’ll constantly be thinking about how you can improve your diet. Now let’s look at some of the best foods that you can eat to promote better health and fitness.

Choosing Foods Mindfully

* Fibrous vegetables

This is a good news, bad news situation. The bad news is that many women hate their veggies. The good news is that you can eat as much fibrous vegetables as you want without worries about gaining weight.

Fibrous vegetables will take up a lot of space in your stomach and make you feel full faster. When eating, it’s best to slowly chew and swallow all the veggies first. Your stomach will get full faster and you’ll be less likely to overeat the other foods. The end result is better digestion, less calories consumed and weight loss.

A few examples of fibrous vegetables are, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, beets, cucumbers, spinach, watercress, green beans, okra, asparagus, cabbage, eggplant, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, collard greens, celery, turnips, bean sprouts, etc.

* Lean proteins

Replacing fatty meat with lean cuts of meat is another great way to improve your diet. The taste will mostly be the same so you won’t be giving up too much. Instead of eating hamburgers from junk food outlets, you’re better off eating a lean cut of beef.

You’ll feel satiated and the protein from the lean cut of meat is exactly what your body needs. Try and get lean cuts of any type of meat you consume. When eating chicken, remove the skin. Boiling, roasting and grilling are always better than frying.

Eggs are great for keeping you healthy and preventing hunger cravings. Many women who eat two eggs a day for breakfast often lose more weight and have more energy. The protein in the eggs is responsible for this.

Since eggs are tasty, you can eat them without worry but try not to eat more than three a day.Mindfully eating is not only about cultivating a healthy relationship with food but it’s also about choosing the right foods to make you feel better and look better. When you give your body the nutrients it needs, it will not constantly develop hunger pangs. Weight loss will also become much easier.

Many women struggle to lose weight because of food cravings. Their bodies are not getting the right nutrients and they’re addicted to sugar and other harmful ingredients. By slowly, replacing the foods with healthier alternatives, the cravings will subside.The excess weight will also melt off since it becomes easier to lose weight when there are less toxins in the body and fewer insulin spikes. So, do remember to make small changes for the better in your diet when you’re eating mindfully.

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